43°C = 109°F

Even my guinean friends warned me about heat in Bamako. Africa is testing me again with its brutal climate, turning up the heat one more notch. You don't want to be outside between 9am to 5pm, not even if you are in the shade. You just don't want to be in this hot dry still air. I am not one who sweats a lot, but you wouldn't think of me that way here. My face can be full of sweat 5 min. after walking out of the house. My eyeglass has such a hard time staying put.

Our apartment is in concrete which absorbes a lot of heat at the end of day, making inside feels like an oven. Luckily I have AC at work, so I leave the apartment as soon as there is enough light to bike to work like around 6:15, and stay at the ACed office till I have to leave to catch the little bit of light left to bike home, to limit my time in the apartment at a minimum. Mind you there is ceiling fan in our bedrooms and living room, but most of time it just circulate the warm air inside.

Sleeping has been hard. Here what I have to do to wake up less throughout the night due to the heat.
1. shower before going to bed
2. place the bed directly under the fan without the mosqito net
3. sprinkle bedsheet with water
4. place a plastic mat over the bed
5. powder myself up with talc powder paying special attention to areas like neck, armpit, back of the knees, where your skins touch one and another, to minimize sweating throughout the night
6. lie on the bed naked and try to sleep